El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa decided the fastest and most inexpensive way to alleviate crowding in the jail is to house prisoners in a 12,000-square-foot tent.

And he got the approval of his three county commissioners yesterday, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The sheriff said he could lease a tent for $9,000 a month, including the cost it would take to heat it to a minimum of 65 degrees, which is required by law.

Commissioner Sallie Clark, calling the plan "innovative," rejected the idea that tents are inhumane, pointing out that thousands of U.S. soldiers live in them.

Maketa said he plans to stake the tent down using concrete blocks instead of spikes that inmates can use as weapons.

Maketa is considering housing up to 180 inmates at the north parking lot of the Criminal Justice Center for inmates serving short sentences and those on work-release.